1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, which includes an air conditioning unit in which air passes through a cooling heat exchanger approximately horizontally, and a blower unit arranged at a side offset from the air conditioning unit. The air conditioner can be suitably used for a vehicle, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 4 shows a part of a vehicle air conditioner in a related art. As shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle air conditioner includes an air conditioning unit 101 located at a center area on a front side in a passenger compartment, and a blower unit 102 offset to a side from the air conditioning unit 101 in a vehicle right-left direction (vehicle width direction). The blower unit 102 for blowing air toward the air conditioning unit 101 includes a blower 103 and an inside/outside air switching portion 104. The blower 103 includes a drive motor 137, a centrifugal fan 138 and a scroll casing 139, and the inside/outside air switching portion 104 adjusts a ratio between an amount of inside air (i.e., air inside the passenger compartment) and an amount of outside air (i.e., air outside the passenger compartment).
The centrifugal fan 138 is set at an optimum condition where a ratio (H3/D1) of a fan height H3 to a fan diameter D1 is in a range of 0.4 to 0.5, so as to improve the blower efficiency and to reduce noise. Thus, an air outlet portion 141 of the scroll casing 139 is enlarged to a height of an air passing portion of the cooling heat exchanger 112 or an air inlet portion of the air conditioning unit 101 is enlarged to the height of the air passing portion of the cooling heat exchanger 112.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, refrigerant pipes 126 of the cooling heat exchanger 112 extend to a through hole of a dash panel of the vehicle via a space between the air conditioning unit 1 and the inside/outside air switching portion 4 of the blower unit 2. However, in the vehicle air conditioner shown in FIG. 4, because the height H3 of the scroll casing 139 is generally smaller than the height of the cooling heat exchanger 112, it is necessary to enlarge the air outlet portion 141 when the air outlet portion 141 of the blower unit 102 is connected to the air conditioning unit 101. Thus, pressure loss or noise is generated due to the enlarged air outlet portion 141.